You already have a good hunch he/she is going to draw a 10 or face-card to make blackjack, so this sounds like a good way out. Suddenly, the dealer asks you if you’d like to insure your bet. You’ve already had a few hard losses and don’t fancy losing another round. Picture this: the dealer is showing an Ace. The reasoning behind insurance bets is when dealers have a visible Ace card, chances of them drawing a ten-valued card is just less than one in three, so this side bet ‘insures’ against the possibility of such an outcome, to make up for the inevitable loss/push. Here the player forfeits the 3:2 payout for a winning blackjack hand in place for a guaranteed even-money (1:1) payout, regardless of what the dealer has. If the dealer goes on to draw a card valued at 10 to make blackjack, the insurance bet is paid out at 2:1.įor players who are holding a natural blackjack, they may also take insurance (called maximum insurance). For players not holding a natural blackjack, if insurance is taken, they must place an additional wager equal to half of their original wager. The bet is only open before the dealer checks or draws the hole card. It is offered when the dealer holds an Ace as their up-card.

It is also classified as a side bet, available in most games of 21. Insurance in blackjack should be classified as a sucker bet.